Bermuda Football Association (BFA) hierarchy met earlier this week with beleaguered national coach Keith Tucker to address an increasingly growing number of issues that threaten to undermine the Island's 2010 World Cup qualifying bid.

According to various national team sources all is not well behind the scenes with players and technical staff said to be up in arms over some of Tucker's coaching methods and team tactics.

"Everyone is struggling with Keith with regards to his system of play and I am not too impressed with his tactics," stated one national team source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "I understand he wants to play football, but we are not getting on top of teams. We are playing too defensive from the outset and everyone is having a hard time adjusting to this 4-5-1 formation.

"Keith has a different idea about football and needs to be questioned on what's his plan to get us through to the next round (World Cup) because what he's doing at the moment just isn't working."

Earlier this week a disgusted Shaun Goater scolded Tucker's men for their recent World Cup draw with Cayman Island and challenged them to show greater commitment.

Yesterday, former West Ham striker Clyde Best echoed Goater's sentiments and threw his weight firmly behind coach Tucker, whose coaching pedigree has come under heavy criticism lately.

Best argued: "You can't put all of the ills of football in Bermuda on Keith. That's not fair because the guy has taken a job that nobody else wanted. He came in and stepped up to the plate.

"It's so easy for people in Bermuda to start pointing fingers and in this country, we do this better than most others. We are amateurs and we want to tell people who have been in authority in other places that what you are doing is wrong. Who are we to make this judgment?

"Too often in this country we lay the blame on one individual or the coaching staff but players need to start being accountable. You have to stand up and be accounted because you are a national team footballer playing in one of the biggest tournaments in the world.

"The players have to be accountable and honest because if you are not you are not going to go very far in sport. They need to realise that if you want to play this game you have to be fit and understand the game because if you don't then you shouldn't be playing in the World Cup.

"When we played we had a lot less going for us than these guys have today, yet we turned out okay because we understood the game."

As for Tucker's controversial 4-5-1 formation Best, said: "Let's put formations aside because the game remains the same. In the course of a game of soccer formations change all the time and so players have to be smart enough to make adjustments and do whatever is required to make things happen.

"Let's be honest . . . we were playing the Cayman Islands and should've beaten them. We were playing at home but how many guys came off the field with their shirts soaking wet? I think our guys may have to look at themselves and re-assess rather than look for scapegoats."